Do Americans really believe that Canadians pronounce "About" as "Aboot"? (1 Viewer)

[Tom Rhea]

And then there's my Aunt from Minneapolis who refuses to believe any Minnesotans sound like the movie Fargo, meanwhile sounding almost exactly like Marge Gunderson

Not only do they really sound that way, there's even a made in Minnesota tape called "How to Talk Minnesotan." Hilarious stuff.

Another regional oddity: if you've ever lived in Louisville, KY, you know it's not Loo-e-ville, it's Loo-ah-vull.

 

[Dave Gorman]

you know it's not Loo-e-ville, it's Loo-ah-vull.

Just as it's "Muh-zoo-ruh" not "Mi-zoo-ree"

 

[Randy Tennison]

I just had to talk to Hewlett Packard tech support, located in Canada, and I truly giggled each time the guy said, "Ok, now go to the help menu, and click on Aboot HP Pavilion".
I was saying it the rest of the day.
BTW, it's Missour-ee. Not Missour-ah.
It's Toy-ota, not Ty-ota (that one's for my dad).
And for God's Sake, there is no such word as Irregardless!!!!!!!!!!!!!:

 

[John Spencer]

You all should come to Tennessee, where basically any one-syllable word becomes a two-syllable word, and vice versa.

eg:
"Hay-ee, may-un. Hah yuh doon?"
"A'ight. I got'er number. You got a pee-un?"
"I Dee-ud."
"Whay-er's it naow?"
"Raht hee-ur."
"Shee-it."
"Yeh-uh."

 

[Martin Fontaine]

Whoa! What an interesting discussion I started.
The reason I started it, is that no one that I know here, pronounces About, Aboot, so I wanted to know why they say that in movies when they sort of make fun of the Canadian accent.
Maybe because here in Quebec, most of us learned french first (Well, if you dare to call the quebecian dialect "French" ) so I guess, we mostly learned our english through American Movies and TV Shows (I know I did) so maybe that's why no one says Aboot here.
But please, do not make racist or deregatory comments, I'd hate to see an admin smoke my thread.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

What the hell is "ZED"???

Zed, for Zardoz. I am an exterminator...
The aboot is definitely an east coast (newfie) thing. You won't be hearing that on the west coast.
I hwood tink Martain hwood bhe more familhiar hwid de Kaybeck acksont, non?

 

[Philip_G]

The aboot is definitely an east coast (newfie) thing. You won't be hearing that on the west coast.

I disagree, I don't talk to many newfies but know a few BC'ers and AB'ers, and live a stones throw from MB so I'm ALWAYS stuck behind them in line somewhere, and they mostly all do it.

 

[David Oliver]

Watching NHL tonight a lot of Candians seem to say, "Oh-Fence" while we Merkins say it "Ah-fencee"

 

[Allan Sampson]

Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead.

I'm Western Canadian (Alberta) and have lived in California for two years. Me and my roommates have been over all of those. About, eh?, decal, roof, Celica, zed, schedule, and especially process and progress which I agree should be the ultimate Canadian accent litmus test. For the record, the girls at work loved the way I pronounced "process."

PRO-cess, PRO-gress. Like PRO hockey. PROs and cons. PROtotype.

Just for the record, to Canadians it really sounds like Americans are saying "abOWt" and "OWt". Don't pOWt, we're just going OWt and abOWt.

Accents are as diverse in Canada as in the US. The rest of Canada can barely understand Newfoundlanders (Newfies). When I first heard it I honestly thought they were speaking Welsh or something. I had no idea it was English.

I love different accents, though. When I was a kid I used to hate the southern belle Scarlett O'Hara accent and the Jewish New York Fran Drescher accent. Now they turn me on.

I'm an accentophile.

By the way, I think the most interesting British pronunciation is how they deal with words that end in the AW sound. Like "law." "You will be prosecuted to the full extent of the LORE."

Allan

 

[MichaelG]

I guess it's just like people think that everyone speaks like the locals in Fargo. Like Tony said, listen to Canadien Hockey players, they say it all the time. I grew up in Burlington, VT and we went to Montreal all the time, and yes we heard it. from everyone? No, but it was common.

Do all Canadians say "Eh"? I doubt it, but that seems jsut as common as aboot. My brother worked for a couple pro hockey teams and when we talked to the Canadian born players, and some management, they pronounced it like that too.

I am sure that it all depends on what part of Canada you are from. I guarantee you won't here someone from Wisconsin speak with a southern drawl, just like someone from Texas won't be heard saying "I gotta go pahk the cah" like someone in Boston.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

My Aunt has the Minnesota denial problem also. ND and MN accents aren't too different from some Canadian accents I've heard, which makes sense since their near Canada.

I met a fairly well known Canadian ISF guy, I won't mention any names though. He had more of a specific manner of speaking than an accent. Very gentle and friendly sounding I'd guess you'd say, with pretty good diction. However he did use "ok" like some Canadians use "eh".

As for y'all, my mom and her family are from the south and I have picked that one up. Its a time saver really. But I use it in the plural sense, whereas its typically singular for southerners with "all y'all" being the plural form.

Randy, is plah-za or plaa-za? I'm in the Missour-ee/plah-za camp myself as a former Independencian.

 

[Bob Sheen]

Here's one i've awlways wondered aboot:

How does the heck does "Worcester" MA become "Wooster", eh ?

Bob

 

[Luis Esp]

I say about, with emphasis on the "ut", but I get a kick on British people, like Debbie Travis, who lives in Montreal, says "patten" for pattern.

I also have cousins in England who do this, and with words that end in vowels, they tend round them off with "r", ie. Madonna=Madonner.

 

[Mitty]

The rest of Canada can barely understand Newfoundlanders (Newfies). When I first heard it I honestly thought they were speaking Welsh or something. I had no idea it was English.

I'd go even further than that with the Newfoundland accent. I think there are more variations on the "Newfie" accent than there are in the whole rest of western civilization. Some Newfoundlanders can't even understand other Newfoundlanders.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Some Newfoundlanders can't even understand other Newfoundlanders.

That's why it's always a half hour later there.

 

[JamieD]

Well, I came back in just to see if it had veered off differently, and it hasn't.

First off: Newfie is considered by many from the Province to be a derogatory term. In other words, much like several other words referring to ethnic groups, don't use it, please.

Secondly: Aboot is NOT a Newfoundland thing. At all.

There are indeed different variations on the Newfoundland accent. Which is what my whole point was. You CANNOT generalize accents. They are too varied. Oh yes, and the main reason why Newfoundlanders can be hard to understand is the fact that we tend to talk more quickly than most folk can keep up with.

Edited to add:
And now I really will leave well enough alone. Dang curiosity.

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Yee-Ming wrote

Quote:

Again, you're hearing off-glides. The [wuh] off-glide for the o's and u's ("round vowels") and the [yuh] off-glide for the e's and i's ("front vowels"). When highly pronounced, they seem to make words a "half-syllable" longer.

 

[Yee-Ming]

How does the heck does "Worcester" MA become "Wooster", eh ?

more carry-overs from the English. same thing with "Leicester", pronounced "lester".
plenty of oddities in the pronounciation of English/British proper nouns. e.g. "Marylebone" is "mar-le-bone" (no "y"), "Beauchamp" is "beech-em".
the one that really takes the biscuit, to my mind, is "Cholmondeley" (assuming I've got the spelling about right), would you believe it's pronounced "chum-ly"?
my guess is it's partly to do with the Norman Conquest and how French (the language) has infiltrated Britain.
EDIT: ah, my post came in before I'd seen Rex's, which is now just ahead of mine. just thought I'd clarify that, i.e. we'd both thought of the "Leicester" example independently. BTW, no offence intended by my "right/ wrong" joke, things get even dicier in non-native English speaking countries, e.g. mine.

 

[TheoGB]

An English girl I know brought up for a number of years in America concerned her teachers. They thought her accent was actually a speech defect whereby she couldn't say 'r'. I guess there are more R's in U.S. ponunciation than British. Weird...

 

[Tom Rhea]

But I use it in the plural sense, whereas its typically singular for southerners with "all y'all" being the plural form.

Real southerners know better. "Y'all" cannot singular -- it's second person plural by definition. "All y'all" is just used for emphasis.